The Henan Provincial Government in China recently provided an update on the flooding that has affected the province since 20 July 2021.
As of 26 July, heavy rain and floods had affected 12.9 million people in 150 counties (cities, districts) and 1,558 towns across Henan. The hardest hit areas include Zhengzhou, Xinyang, Xinxiang, Zhumadian, Zhoukou, Anyang, Shangqiu, Kaifeng, Puyang and Hebi.
As many as 24,474 houses have been severely damaged or destroyed. Damage was also caused to 972,000 hectares of farmland. Over 1.31 million people have evacuated to safer areas. A total of 69 people have lost their lives and 5 are still missing.
Flood water is slowly receding in some areas but the situation remains severe. Forecasters said more heavy rain is expected.
Satellite Images – Before and After the Floods in Henan, China, July 2021
Flooding was still visible on 26 July 2021 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image of northern Henan province. For comparison, the same area is shown on 20 July 2020.
